Westerville Sympony Presents New Babylon

Sunday, January 27 - 5:00 PM

Featured Event

The Westerville Symphony at Otterbein University presents the silent film "New Babylon" as the second concert in their Ron Lykins Masterworks Series. The performance takes place on Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 5 pm in Riley Auditorium at Otterbein University.

"New Babylon" (1929) was the seventh film produced by Leningrad’s Factory of Eccentric Actors and was directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, established members of the early Soviet film industry. The score is by Dmitri Shostakovich, 23 at the time, who had spent much of his teens accompanying silent films on piano. Set during the ill-fated Paris Commune of 1871, the film tells the story of the doomed love affair of a conscripted soldier and a simple shop girl. The Paris Commune occurred when a large group of French citizens took over central Paris for two months and attempted to form a government. It is believed that Karl Marx started forming his ideas about communism from this event. Considered both whimsical and tragic, and censored for its excess and frivolity, "New Babylon" is regarded as an astonishing achievement at the end of the silent film era in the Soviet Union.

Three weeks before its premiere, Soviet censors removed 20% of "New Babylon’s" material, including most of its central love story. The result was a film and music score that no longer lined up and it was pulled after two performances. Renewed interest in "New Babylon" came in the mid-1980’s where attempts were made to fit the score to the censored version of the film. Since more music existed than film, this was accomplished by playing sections of the film at a slower rate so that it would line up with the Shostakovich score. This version is available for viewing on You Tube. Two copies of the uncensored film did survive, one in Moscow and one in Swiss film archives. Marek Pytel, a film restoration specialist in London, has restored the original pre-censored film using these two sources and this is the version the Westerville Symphony will be screening on January 27th. Mr Pytel will be our artist in residence for this week-end and will take part in two “Conversations” at Otterbein University that are open to the public.

The Westerville Symphony at Otterbein University provides exemplary symphonic performances to audiences in central Ohio, and music education in Westerville and surrounding communities. This season will see collaborations with the Otterbein University Choirs, Westerville Public Library and the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce.